In this lesson, students use comprehension skills to discuss and respond to questions about a text.

This poem was written in letter format and was addressed to the U.S. authorities in response to Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066, dated February 19, 1942, authorized the internment of tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident aliens from Japan. The speaker of this poem is a fourteen-year-old girl, who stresses that she is an American. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this poem through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this autobiographical text, Gary Paulson narrates experiences he had in the bitter cold of the North which taught him to respect all animals. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students use comprehension skills to discuss and respond to questions about a text.

In “Invocation” from John Brown’s Body, Stephen Vincent Benet calls on the muse of America to inspire him. He invokes the varied American landscape and the many kinds of people who have contributed to American culture and life. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Jabberwocky is an epic poem told through nonsense words. The poem relates a father’s quest for his son that involves the slaying of a beast (The Jabberwock). The poem charts the son’s progress from his departure to his successful return. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this poem through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last is the story of two brave men who changed the course of history in sports. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

In this lesson, students use comprehension skills to discuss and respond to questions about a text.

In this lesson, students use comprehension skills to discuss and respond to questions about a text.

John Henry competes against a steam drill in driving steel and proudly claims that he would sooner die than let a steam drill beat him. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments;

In Jackie Joyner-Kersee's autobiography, she writes of the challenges she faced early on while becoming a track and field athlete. In this CCSS lesson students will explore Jackie Joyner-Kersee's life through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This autobiographical piece tells what a neat, tidy rule-follower this author was in his youth—except for his yo-yo. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this short story, a boy named Billy Weaver needs to find lodging in Bath, England. He goes to a boardinghouse. The landlady is an odd woman who compels Billy Weaver to stay with her at the boardinghouse. As the story progresses, clues are given as to the whereabouts of previous guests on the fourth floor.

In this story, the main character, Margaret is affected by the loss of her father and then the loss of her best friend who moves away. As she adapts to that change she discovers new talents and new friends. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments;

This lesson was designed to help students gain social studies/history content knowledge by using textual evidence to answer text-dependent questions.

WWII has started and Jimbo Kurasaki and his mother and brother have been confined to an internment camp because they are Japanese. He is not happy, but he copes by deciding that war “makes people crazy.” In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In response to Harriet Tubman’s request for a letter of commendation, Fredrick Douglas wrote a testimony of her character, hard work, and sacrifices for the sake of freedom from bondage while marking the differences in their leadership styles for the common cause. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This poem, written in a voice of a child, addresses the fears a child faces when starting at a new school and/or being placed in a new classroom. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

"Life Without Gravity," a nonfiction selection, is designed to help students become familiar with the characteristics of an expository essay and how weightlessness affects the body. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In the short story, "Lob’s Girl," a girl, Sandy, and her dog, Lob, create an emotional bond that provides the will to survive. The story follows a chronological sequence from the time Sandy and Lob first met, how they strengthen their bond through life events, to the culminating accident where Sandy is seriously injured and Lob helps revive her in the most mysterious manner. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.